Mythos
by Paige Dayspring
Summary: Nothing to do with mythology. The story I've been promising....Logan, told by Rogue
1. Thinking of the beginning

Note: this story could be very disturbing...it disturbed me enough that I had to put it on paper. I don't own anyone except the twins, Lynn and Becca. Thanks to Emily for all the beta reading and endless encouragement.  
  
She'd never imagined he , the confirmed cigar smoker, would one day smell like baby powder. It was a running joke, you smelt him before you saw him. She guessed it was a by product of being the only place the twins would sleep in th efirst year of there lives. He'd lay on the couch in the den, the TV muted so anyone who wanted to catch a show could read the captioning as they sat on the floor cushions. It was a common thing to find Bishop sitting in front of the couch, his rifle disassembled in front of him, cleaning it as he watched Franklin the Turtle learn the value of sharing. Lynn, not older than 6 at the time, would be comfortably leaning against him absently twirling one of her red locks into knots. Walking in on this idyllic scene, Logan with his mouth wide open in his sleep, his arms wrapped around his twin daughters and oblivious to the world, nobody had thought to ask Lynn about Bishop or Bishop about Lynn. Nobody had thought to ask...and now it was too late.  
  
When Logan had phoned from Vegas and announced he'd gotten married everyone welcomed the news with cautious optimism. The Professor quickly gathered everyone from vacations and make work assignments. Warren swooped in just as Logans' Harley came into the drive, red hair spilling out from under the helmut of his rider. Of course, Jean was a little put off by having her status as first married snatched (her wedding was set for the next week) but got over it quickly when she found out the poor thing was married in the jeans she was still wearing. Her name was Becca and she was very excited to be at a school for mutants. Jean instantly took her under her wing.  
  
A year later Jean, fairly glowing, announced that there would be not one but two babies born in the next nine months. Bobby promptly slapped Scott on the back, calling him a big stud. Logan cleared his throat loudly and we all looked at him. "I'm not expecting twins." smirked Jean, pulling a blushing Becca to her feet. Hearty congratulations where passed around then and cigars passed around and the guys all shooed out. Needless to say, Cable and Bishop carried Scott and Logan (and Bobby) home from Harrys' Bar just as the sun was kissing the horizen.  
  
Lynn beat Rachel into the world by mere seconds. As a beaming blue Beast bounded from the infirmary, his arms full of baby a great cheer went up from the assembled X Teams. Licorice cigars went around as Cable and Jubilee argued Rachels' lusty cries to Lynns' indifferent sleep. Storm called them fools and snatched Rachel to return to her mother for feeding. I caught Betsy lingering near Logan, looking almost wistfully at his peaceful daughter. 


	2. Lynn

Disclaimer: I don't own anyone except the twins, Lynn and Becca. Thanks to Emily for all the beta reading and endless encouragement.  
  
It soon became apparent that Lynn took after her daddy in that she would sleep all day. She would peacefully pass the day on any available warm surface including the Professor. You could often find Logan, Hank or even Bishop morosely watching daytime TV while she got her beauty sleep. Bobby quickly learned she was a great excuse for getting out of chores, for the slightest movement and she'd wake up screaming. She'd spend the night exercising her lungs, much to everyone's chagrin. Her howl even reached the attic with startling clarity. It got the point where it wasn't unusual to find a contingent of X men sleeping in the Danger Room since it was at least soundproof.  
  
Scott and Jean had taken off for Muir Island to devote their energies toward Rachel. Rogue watched it all from a wistful distance. While Remy had proposed to Rogue with his Grannies' ring the night of Lynns' birth, they both realized that babies of there own were not in the forseeable future. She felt it unsafe to hold the fussy baby, shuddering at would happen at the lightest skin contact  
  
After a thunderous fight, Logan allowed Becca to arrange a christening for Lynn. A local priest came to our chapel. Storm, Xavier, Betsy, Jubillee, Kitty, Bishop, Remy and Rogue were in attendance. When the question of "Who will be the godfather of this child?" was asked, "I will" boomed from the back of the chapel.   
  
Spinning, we all were greeted with the sight of Magneto, in full costume. Charles visibly started and Remy pulled out a softly glowing card. "Put a lid on it." snarled Logan. Rogue looked at him in surprise, where he was holding his howling daughter. "Is this any way to treat an invited guest?" Eric intoned, making his way to the front to embrace an uncomfortable looking Becca. He even stayed for cake afterward and played a game of chess with Charles but no one ever explained how our most formidable foe became godfather to Wolverines' first child. Logan certainly was never forthcoming with an explanation.  
  
It was actually an idyllic time. Sinister and Apocalypse hadn't been sighted for a number of years. Sabretooth had joined the previous spring so we had mostly accepted him by then. Magneto made visits instead of attacks, bringing presents and taking Becca out for lunch periodically. Mystique was bunking with Excaliber, and there was no anti mutant legislation hanging in the balance. There was the occasional human vs mutant idiocy spurred largely by a group calling themselves the Global Human Liberation Committee. How can you take a group that calls itself a committee seriously? If only we'd known... 


	3. Exit

Note: Be kind!! This story has beeb nothing but a pain to write!! I will post more very shortly.....  
  
If her arrival had been met with cautious optimism, then her exit had been met with stony condemnation.   
  
When Lynn was three, Logan announced that he was going to be a daddy again. I clearly remember the warm glow coming off him...that Becca seemed to suck into herself. She increasingly refused to participate in group activities. We all knew she was a mutant but never knew what her particular mutation was.   
  
After the initial giddiness at being at a school for mutants, Becca had slowly drawn into herself. Lynn refused to spend time with her mother and as soon as she could crawl, she'd follow Bishop, crying until he picked her up. He seemed to accept the baby's affection readily, giving Bobby stony glares when he tried to bribe her into letting him be 'favorite uncle'. The little girl would spend time with her Daddy when Becca wasn't around but for the most part she stayed with Bishop.   
  
She potty trained by 1 and was reading at 3. Rogue remembered coming across them in the kitchen, his gun spread across the kitchen table, her pudgy face inches from a manual on field stripping rifles, the Cat in the Hat sitting to one side. Becca had walked in and almost lost it on Bishop for exposing her chld to such violence. Lynn had screamed in terror when her mother tried to snatch her away, latching on to the large black man like her life depended on it. If the Professor had not intervened, Rogue had no idea how things mgiht have turned out. The powerful telepath did not look pleased to be dragged away from his study and everyone heard bits and pieces of the resulting arguement.  
  
Exactly a year to the day, Becca left. The spectacle of her departure was painted forever in Rogues mind.  
  
Betsy, her own burgeoning motherhood barely visible, stood motionless in the shadows. Bishop stood on the staircase, holding Lynn as they stared with stony eyes. The air was popping with ozone around Storm, making Bobby and Colossus' hair stand on end as they bookcased her.   
  
Becca hadn't looked at any of them. She'd come straight from the suite she'd shared with Logan for the past 4 years where the twins could be heard faintly crying. Her exit lasted all of 20 seconds. She didn't even take anything with her except her coat.   
  
Bobby jumped as Storm turned on her heel and stomped directly to the Danger Room. Bobby went immediatly to the infirmary, seeking medical assistance for the zap he'd received as Storm turned. Hank said it was lucky Bobby was a walking snowball or he would have lost a sizable chunk of his posterior. No one had ever seen Storm so close to losing control. But Rogue thought she understood where Ororo was coming from.They both wanted children so badly and here was this woman, throwing it all away....  
  
She knew Storm had tried to talk to Becca a number of times. Becca had made promises and finally had been quite rude ( from Remys' account as told to him by Storm) telling Storm she had no business interfering as she had no idea what it was liketo be clung on every fucking day with the whining, the shitting and Logans' fucking socks all over the place.Storm had calmly replied she wished she was so lucky. And so Becca left the next day. And the Danger Room was out of order for a week after that.  
  
Jubilation Lee and Katherine Pryde arrived in the same cab from the airport the next day-. Logan still hadn't left his rooms, Rogue, Remy and Bishop had lingered around the door, sending warmed bottles in with Lynn. Kitty marched right past a startled Remy and phased into the suite without knocking. She opened the door for Jubilee who promptly slammed it shut again behind her. There was a lot of yelling for about 10 minutes, some minor explosions and somethimg shattered. Jubilee emerged in a perfect fury and ran back to the cab. Gravel flew as it sped down the driveway  
  
Rogue cautiously looked in the room with Remy and Bobby who'd been attracted by the comotion. Logan sat on his bed, his face burried in his hands. Kitty sat beside him, obviously offering comfort just with her presence. The place was a wreak, only the twin bassinets in the corner stood untouched. Shredded clothing covered the bed and floor. A large picture frame lay facedown on the floor, the glass obviously shattered out of it. Cautiously, Rogue stepped over the threshold. The two figures on the bed didn't acknowledge her presence so she continued to the fussing babies. A wide eyed Drake was close behind her, and picked up Mary as she picked up Katy. Kitty nodded imperceptively, catching Rogues eye as she passed. That day and many after, Rogue would rock Katy to sleep for her afternoon nap as Logan resumed what was left of his life. 


	4. Demonstrations

Dear Fans: be brutally honest...not about the POV, cause I know thats a mess but about the story. Is it flowing properly?? Thank you to everyone continueing to read this story.  
  
DISCLAIMER: when you finish this story, you'll be glad I don't own the X Men.  
  
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Increasingly, they were pulled away from the mansion. The Liberation group had taken to gathering outside medical clinics, passing out pamphlets urging women to get amniocentesis. The pamphlets outlined how there was a test now to determine if the unborn baby was an 'abomination'. Phone numbers of sympathetic abortionists willing to rid the mother of the 'false life' were included. It was gut wrenching surveillance work; get names but no ass kicking. But that was were Rogue saw Becca again. She nearly didn't recognize Logans' wife. A large burn scar had disfigured half her face and her hands. With a sudden clarity, Rogue knew where Jubilee when she left the mansion in a rage that day. Becca was standing to one side, hugging a stack of the pamphlets to herslef. She never saw Rogue and Rogue judiciously never pointed out there fallen comrade to her partner that day, Storm. Seconds after spotting her, the crown dissolved into a mob situation when two Liberation idiots got too pushy with an obviously pregnant girl and her obviously mutant boyfriend.  
  
Adding to the enigma of his relationship with Becca, Eric visited a couple of times after she left. The X men assumed she'd sent him to check on the babies and maybe Logans' grieving. So they were cool to him, certain he was feeding info to the 'enemy' while revealing nothing. It didn't ease anyones' mind that they'd seen him on the sidelines of many Committee demonstrations.   
  
Rogue's mind was especially troubled since she had spotted Becca at another such event some months later. But she had no one to talk to about it: Excaliber was off in another dimension. The Professor was taking a much needed vacation on Muir under Moiras' and Jean's watchful eyes. Remy was developing dark circles under his eyes and if anyone took the time to think about it, they assumed they came from the constant surveillance assignments and doing his part to chase the now walking twins.   
  
Their engagement was going into its fifth year with no wedding date in site. Magneto actually tried to talk to her about the engagement but she shut him out. Maybe he wouldn't outright start trouble because his godchild lived in the mansion but Rogue didn't trust him not to start trouble other ways. 


	5. Wheres' my kids?

He spent the twin's every waking moment with them and with Lynn, when she would allow it. When they slept, he trained behind a locked door in the Danger Room. Only Kitty and Jubilee seemed able to reach him.   
  
Kitty and Jubilee had stayed on, moving into spare rooms and taking on the role of auntie as if it was an assignment from Xavier. Kitty could often be found on a blanket in the garden with Peter watching Katy, Mary and Annie (Betsy and Warrens' little girl) as they tooktottering first steps and began to run. Peters' heart had never been in fighting so he took every opportunity to stay home and watch the babies.   
  
Bobby had found himself a girl in town and she seemed to take him quite seriously. Bishop was often found pondering through Hop on Pop or stripping his rifle, constantly shadowed by Lynn. Maybe she replaced Shard, the sister he'd raised and lost in a bleak future. Sabretooth was akwardly courting Storm, perched in a tree as she planted a vegetable garden with Lynn and Bishop's help. Lynn would walk behind the large man, righting the onion sets he'd planted upside down.   
  
Victor would watch for Ororo to pause in her work and bring her lemonade. Storm had mentioned one night how she'd like to try her hand at growing some vegetables. The next day an acre of the immaculate lawn had been dug up, complete with stick and string row guides. Victor had made no mention of doing it, just stood there leaning on his shovel looking rather proud. Forge returned to them and took up residence in the lake house abandoned by Jean and Scott. Rogue had pitched a tent by the lake, hoping the fresh air would cure those darkening circles under Remys' eyes. Hank would look at him with concern but could offer no comfort, the thief insisted that he was fine. Neither of them wanted to prove he was lying. The truth curled like a snake between them at night, as the waves lapped a dirge to their dreams of a life together and children. The Professor was overdue home.  
  
In September, the Committee finally stepped over the line. A preschool suspected of accepting mutants was bombed, killing 6 children. A spokesperson gleefully took responsibility on behalf of the Human Liberation Committee. He promised more 'purifications' of schools if those in power didn't take 'appropriate' measures to protect our children.   
  
Professor Xavier finally came home. Only Jubilee, Lynn, the twins and Bishop were home to greet him. The rest, Rogue wasn't clear on- but it made a logical sequence of events. Jubilee realized the Prof wouldn't be impressed to find only milk, chicken in a bucket and onions in the fridge. So she'd grabbed Bishop (he still had one good arm), packed the kids in the back seat of her jeep and took off for the store.   
  
From the rubble, the investigator was able to determine she must have finished shopping. Everybody blamed him for not finding much else. They all saw the explosions from the mansion.   
  
Logan's descent into insanity took less than a minute. At the first ground shaking explosion, he'd turned to Betsy with a sudden clarity and asked where his kids were. When a look of horror spread across her face and Warren suddeny wheeled toward town, his sanity suddenly seemed to flood out of his eyes. As he screamed his loss to the heavens, Victor tried to restrain him. Remy, Hank and Storm had to rush Sabretooth to the emergency room as Rogue and Forge pursued Logan. Kitty collapsed on the spot and Peter stayed with her. Bobby was the first one on site, as he'd been looking at rings with his town girl. He tried to put out the flames, reach the babies. But the heat was intense and a subsequent explosion blew him into the front window of the jewellery story he'd just been shopping in. Warren carried him to the emergency room realizing as soon as he arrived on the scene that it was to late for everyone in the jeep. 


	6. Injuries

Note: the disclaimer still stands. There could be 4 chapters left, are you up to it??  
  
The X men were a sorry sight. The Professor had been in contact with Jubilee when the first bomb went off. He was in a coma for a week, the same length of time it took to bring Logan back to the mansion. Jean, Scott and Kurt had rushed back to the mansion, arriving the same night of the explosion via Lila Cheney. Torn by the need to protect Rachel and a desire to keep her close, they had brought her with them. Lorna and Alex arrived next, thanks to Lila.  
  
Jean and Scott immediatly took over, Lorna keeping care of Rachel. Victor was now in the infirmary as were Forge and Warren. They had cornered Logan in a back alley and paid the price. Forge had broken ribs and a concussion, Warren had lost quite a few feathers and some puncture wounds. Victor was slowly healing from various punctured internal organs. Bobby refused to talk to anyone, seeming to blame himself. His girlfriend, nursing her own bruises and scrapes from the explosion, hung around trying to help. Storm left his bedside only at Jeans' request.  
  
It was Storm, Jean and Betsy that brought him back. Storm struck him with a lightening bolt and Betsy hit him with her psi blade to make him stay down. Jean had to carry him with her telekinesis until they reached the mansion, his mind was in such chaos it didn't allow him to stay unconscience. It was relief when the Professor woke up, he was able to put Logans' mind into a closed circuit of happy memories as he lay inert under Hanks' watchful eyes in the infirmary.  
  
Other injuries weren't so obvious. Rogue felt bereft, left with the detritus that four healthy girls leave in there lives. Dollies were found in the Danger Room booth. Hop on Pop was found in the back of the Tupperware cupboard. Kitty would break down at every little reminder of the girls and Collosus had restrained her twice from taking off to seek justice on her own. The worst moment was when she went to the linen closet and found the twins' favorite towels. Peter found her there, wrapped in them while she wailed loudly.  
  
Raven arrived with Eric. Rogue gave up the clean up and cried on her until Eric picked them both up and gently placed them in her room. Rogue couldn't stop the onslaught. If those innocent babies could not be safe what hope did Remy and she have? Her foster mother held her that night when she finally fell asleep. Belatedly, she realized what Eric had been doing when he visited. It had nothing to do with Becca...it had to do with second chances. Not only was he seeking a way to make amends with his conscience for missing Pietro and Wandas' childhood but also to fill the role of 'uncle' for the so called children of the one who had once been his best friend. In his twilight, Magneto had realized the value of family. 


	7. When its all said and done

The Last Chapter.  
  
Jean and the Professor planned the funeral. They should have known better, especially Charles. Eric could have told him. But he wanted to show the world we would not bevictimized. All the X teams were in attendance. Rogue noted Nick Fury and thought she saw Mr. Sinister. Kurt led the mass as Rogue held Ravens' hand for support. Remy sat close by, not touching, his head bowed as his body seemed to spasm sporadically. Cable and Domino stood at the back of the church keeping the thrill seekers and journalists out. Logan sat between Charles and Jean, living on a reel of the twins first steps.  
  
Rogue had told Mystique she thought it wrong for Logan to be deprived his grief. Her foster mother had agreed but asked her to wait until after the funeral to approach Charles. As Rogue stared at the three little pink coffins, she knew this wasn't what Logan would have wanted. The girls should have been quietly laid to rest with Doug Ramsey on the mansion grounds. If Kitty hadn't been alternating between rage and grief, things might have been done properly.  
  
Rogue rose with her family at the last hallelujah and took her place as a pallbearer with Kurt. The coffins were all so small they only needed two people to carry each of them. As the cathedral doors opened, a roar went up from the crowd outside. Cable pulled out one of his bigger guns and suggested people get out of the way, with Domino and Forge not far behind. Warren wrapped his wings around Betsy protectively as she hugged Annie close to her. Victor snarled in a feral manner, never letting go of Storms' hand though his hair stood on end from the electricity in the air. Bobby was holding his girlfriend close, telling them all to 'go fuck themselves.'  
  
Thunderheads were starting to pile up in the sky and Rogue could hear the swish if the trees about the shouted questions by the reporters. She remembered the smell of ozone just as someone yelled "Freedom!!" Then the shot rang out. Dropping the casket and ducking instinctively, Rogue saw what looked like a rose blooming in slow motion on Charles' forehead. his face registered shock, then nothing. Someone screamed. A red beam shot from nowhere and two reporters were knocked back. Another red beam and more reporters fell back, the smarter ones trying to find a way out. Rogue could see Scott now, headlessly firing as he sought to reach Rachel where she was crying and clinging to Lorna.  
  
But Rogue was mostly watching Logan as she took to the sky. At shot that killed the Professor his eyes suddenly focused. When Scott fired, he staggered back a step. An unearthly howl rent the air as the death of his children sank in again. Then he was lifted off the ground.  
  
More guns fired and a bullet zinged Rogue. Cable had made his way to Rachel and they vanished in a bodyslide with Lorna. Scott was back to back with Domino, picking off Committee fanatics that had seemed to materialize from nowhere. Kurt had teleported Annie and Betsy back into the church presumably. Eric and Mystique were nowhere to be seen.  
  
Jean had lifted Logan, effectivley preventing his revenge. Noting the strain on her friends' face, Rogue swooped in as she pulled off her gloves. The telepaths' eyes lit up to see a familiar face. "Jean!" Rogue cried, pointing over her shoulder. As she pivoted, Rogue grabbed her hand. In a blink, she could feel her suprise and sense of betrayal as she realized what Rogue was doing. Fighting for control against Jeans' protestes now in her own head, she looked to Logan who was now on the ground. There eyes met for a moment, then he was gone tearing a swath through the mob. Rogue picked up her unconscience team mate and desperatly trying to quite the voices, flew her to the church roof where Kurt was watching her.  
  
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Well, that is kinda a cliffhanger. I'll wrap it all up before the end of the month, hopefully. 


End file.
